II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3968 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide community-based training 

opportunities for medical students in rural areas and medically underserved communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 19, 2024 

Mr. WICKER (for himself and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide community-based training opportunities for medical students in 

rural areas and medically underserved communities, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Training, 

5 Education, and Access for Medical Students Act of 2024’’ 

6 or the ‘‘Community TEAMS Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY-BASED TRAINING FOR 

2 MEDICAL STUDENTS IN RURAL AREAS AND 

3 MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 330A of the Public 

5 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254c) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (h), (i), and (j) 

7 as subsections (i), (j), and (k), respectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(h) GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY-BASED TRAINING

11 FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS IN RURAL AREAS AND MEDI12 CALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Director may award grants 

14 to eligible entities to expand the availability of com15 munity-based training for medical students in rural 

16 areas and medically underserved communities to fa17 cilitate long-term, sustainable physician practice in 

18 high-need communities by supporting medical stu19 dent clinical rotations in health care facilities in 

20 such areas and communities, including in outpatient 

21 settings. 

22 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF GRANTS.—A grant under this 

23 subsection shall be for a period of 1 to 5 years, as 

24 determined by the Director. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant 

2 under this subsection, an entity shall be a consor3 tium of— 

4 ‘‘(A) one or more osteopathic or allopathic 

5 medical schools; and 

6 ‘‘(B) one or more of the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) A rural health clinic. 

8 ‘‘(ii) A Federally qualified health cen9 ter (as defined in section 1861(aa) of the 

10 Social Security Act). 

11 ‘‘(iii) A health care facility located in 

12 a medically underserved community. 

13 ‘‘(4) APPLICATIONS.—To seek a grant under 

14 this subsection, an eligible entity, in consultation 

15 with the appropriate State office of rural health or 

16 another appropriate State entity, shall prepare and 

17 submit to the Director an application at such time, 

18 in such manner, and containing such information as 

19 the Director may require, including— 

20 ‘‘(A) a description of the project that the 

21 eligible entity will carry out using the funds 

22 provided through the grant; 

23 ‘‘(B) an explanation of the reasons why 

24 Federal assistance is required to carry out the 

25 project; 


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1 ‘‘(C) a description of the manner in which 

2 the project funded through the grant will assure 

3 continuous quality improvement in the provision 

4 of services by the entity; 

5 ‘‘(D) a description of how the populations 

6 in the rural area or medically underserved com7 munity to be served through the grant will ex8 perience increased access to quality health care 

9 services across the continuum of care as a re10 sult of the activities carried out by the entity; 

11 ‘‘(E) a plan for sustaining the project after 

12 Federal support for the project has ended; 

13 ‘‘(F) a description of how the project will 

14 be evaluated; and 

15 ‘‘(G) such other information as the Direc16 tor determines to be appropriate.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 330A of 

18 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254c) is amend19 ed— 

20 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘and for the 

21 planning and implementation of small health care 

22 provider quality improvement activities’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘for the planning and implementation of small 

24 health care provider quality improvement activities, 

25 and for expanding the availability of communityVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Apr 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3968.IS S3968

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1 based training for medical students in rural areas 

2 and medically underserved communities’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (d)(2)— 

4 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub5 sections (e), (f), and (g)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub6 sections (e), (f), (g), and (h)’’; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

8 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; 

10 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (iii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(iv) expand the availability of com15 munity-based training for medical students 

16 in rural areas and medically underserved 

17 communities under subsection (h).’’; and 

18 (3) in subsection (j), as redesignated by sub19 section (a)(1), by striking ‘‘subsections (e), (f), and 

20 (g)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (e), (f), (g), and 

21 (h)’’. 

Æ 


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